Do you have your dog insured??

[Skyler]

We have been paying out for insurance for our GSD X since we had her (6.5 years). We have claimed £80 once and had to pay £85 excess. The new quote from Petplan has just come through and will cost £220 this year . On top of that the excess is £95 now. I think we are better off binning the insurance and saving the monthly amount in a separate account.
She is a rescue dog and so is about 8 or 9 so I guess it is from now on things go wrong, but she is so healthy and mongrels tend to do better than other breeds don't they?
Anyway, back to my question, do you have pet insurance and if so why and if not why not?
TIA.

I have insurance for my dog, mainly because there is a possibility we will have to take him to France to visit family at some point if we can't find a dog sitter, and most pet insurances will not start a new policy on an animal who is over a certain age, usually between 5 and 8. Public liability insurance for dogs is compulsory in France.

Anyway, when we were away at Easter, the little monster at some some bones he found in the hedgerow and managed to get one stuck in his throat. On Good Friday. So minor surgery to remove the offending bone on a bank holiday cost £130, and my friend who was looking after him is not keen to look after him again. Our excess is £60 with Tescos.

Just got insurance for my dog - he's 8 and its costing me £17 a month with Direct Line. I think my excess is £80, but I am happy with that as he generally a healthy little guy, and the illnesses he's likely to get are likely to cost a lot more then £80, so I feel its worthwhile. (I've only just got him insured purely cause of his age since he's now at a greater risk of illness)

I have two dogs with Marks & Spencer, no excess at all (you can choose to have an excess which makes the monthly payments cheaper). They are around £13-£14 per month each. I claimed quite a bit last year for little niggly things and once when one of them was attacked by another dog (over £500) and this year my premiums didn't go up at all. They paid up in 2 weeks each time. They also cover 'for life' so your £7000 maximum claim is renewed each year (some companies stop paying completely after you hit the max). So at the moment I am quite a fan of M&S . Used to be with PetPlan but wasn't very impressed considering how expensive they are.

I think Sainsbury's are supposed to be good for insuring older dogs.

Have a shop around online but do read the small print carefully as the policies can be very different.

Oh, and whatever you do, check who underwrites the insurance company you choose - if it is E&L, don't touch it with a bargepole!

Pet Plan.

Our old GSD got loads of benefits paid out to keep him going when becoming incontinent, arthritic etc.

Our 6 yr old GSD has a fused bone in his spine & is on permanent painkillers (all covered for life by Petplan).

Don't insure our cats. Got the dogs insured mainly in case they ever caused an accident etc - not knowing as Puppies if they would turn out ok.

Thank you for your responses. Perhaps I should shop around a bit. I have to admit we are trying to save a bit of money but perhaps cutting this is a false economy. I felt that after a year we could (touch wood) have no claims and then have £220 to cover any future costs and if we kept it up the amount would increase and if we never needed it it is more money for us not the insurance company.....
I resent paying out £220 having only ever claimed £80 back.
Hmmm some thinking to do.
Thanks again.

should have had insurance.

my dog got run over and it cost £1k

at least my dog was okay afterwards (my mum ended up paying for the op)

Margo.
Glad your dog recovered.

I have insurance on all my pets, dog included, the excess is £60 with tesco. I am very glad I have pet insurance, as my cat was shot last year and the vet bill came in over £1800, luckily the vet agreed to deal direct with tesco and I didn't have to find the money upfront.

Nope, never have had, never will.

3 horses, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 10 chickens and counting (more are hatching as I type), and not one of them insured.

i have my gsd insured, have only ever had to claim once, but i would keep up the insurance!!

when i was younger we had a king charles cav.. she was a healthy girl, so mum wanting to save some money cancelled her policy... shortly after this she became ill very quickly (heart problems) and my parents were paying £150/month for medication and vets bills and tests etc for about 6 months before she was put to sleep... she was only 6

please do insure it. I'd be skint if I didn't have insurance for the cat.

once a ear infection (very severe) costed me 1.5k. and I is at the vet for something or other every 3 months.

It only needs one thing to go slightly wrong and you'd recoup all the money you spent.

Our dog is very old and has some heart/breathing/ problem. It would have cost us 1K just for sime checks.

Try changing insurer, you will always find a cheaper one. I'm with tesco.

No. it would get drowned. Really £1000's on a DOG!

just be careful to check the policy, a lot of the cheaper ones, like tesco, are non lifetime cover. That means that if your animal gets something like diabetes, that it will have forever, they will only pay for 12mths. At that point of course its too late to get cover elsewhere. An awful lot of people get caught out with this.
Big thumbs up for that m and s policy, have been pointing lots of people in that direction, cant see how the insurers can offer it without losing money TBH

I wasnt saying that you should be put off changing just that its important to check. Not suprisingly the ones that arent lifetime, dont draw attention to the fact and the majority of people dont even know its an issue-till they come unstuck!

thanks miggy, see i didn't know that! I mean I knew mine wasn't a lifetime one but thought they were all like this. good i'll try to change it. with my luck the cat will get one of these lifetime things...

yes for dog, M&S about £120 a year 2 yr old black lab but not for cat

Thank you. I think we will keep the insurance then but shop around for a better deal. We do have savings that could cover any costs but they are all we have and I don't want to have to make any tough decisions.......
She already costs us £30 a month on posh Burns food .

I have my rabbit insured but haven't used it yet. Thinking of cancelling.

no. I have a 4 yr old dog and a very old (16?) cat

imho, i strongly believe it should be a legal requirement to have animals insured for third party liability. Any animal which goes outside could potentially cause an accident and owners must be in a position to compensate any insured party.
I honestly can't believe anyone should be able to have an animal such a horse, which they ride on the road, without insurance.

In the increasingly litigious society in which we live, there is no way I would risk not insuring my horse for third party liability.

My parents were threatened with legal action because Mum's cat allegedly caused a teenager to fall off a moped. Fortunately one of their neighbours witnessed the incident, and signed a statement saying that the kid had aimed the moped at the cat, which was in a public parking area, and instead of running away the cat just sat there, and the kid fell off when he swerved to avoid her.

But if you aren't insured what can you pay??
How does it work if you are sued and have no insurance? Genuine question. Do you get payment at £2 per week or something??
Incidentally I HATE the way all common sense is going out the window in todays' society .
Incidentally we have cancelled the Pet plan policy (well not renewed it) and I got a quote for half the price from M&S so I will shop around some more tomorrow. I have till June to sort it. Thanks for the top tips.

Oooh I like the word 'incidentally' tonight.